Chris Hedges
Chris Hedges writes a regular column for Truthdig.com. Hedges graduated from Harvard Divinity School and was for nearly two decades a foreign correspondent for The New York Times. He is the author of many books, including: War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning, What Every Person Should Know About War, and American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America. His most recent book is Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle.
Articles by this author
![When an [intelligence service] uses dirty tricks, provides billions of dollars in weapons to renegade militias and Islamic radicals, overthrows governments and assassinates leaders, leaving in its wake mayhem and disasters it did not foresee, it has failed. (Photo: Mr. Fish)](https://www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_small_thumb/public/views-article/thumbs/screen_shot_2019-09-16_at_10.52.12_am.png?itok=ORjBCc1h) |
Views Monday, September 16, 2019 Our Invisible Government There are two forms of government in the United States. There is the visible government—the White House, Congress, the courts, state legislatures and governorships—and the invisible government, or deep state, where anonymous technocrats, intelligence operatives, generals, bankers, corporations and... Read more |
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Views Monday, September 09, 2019 The Capitalists Are Afraid Capitalists seek to maximize profits and reduce the cost of labor. This sums up capitalism at its core. It is defined by these immutable objectives. It is not about democracy. It is not, as has been claimed, about wealth creation for the working class. It has nothing to do with freedom. Those... Read more |
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Views Monday, September 02, 2019 The Messiahs of Hope Assure Us Everything Will Be OK in the End. But It Won't There is nothing new to our story. The flagrant lies and imbecilities of the inept and corrupt leader. The inability to halt the costly, endless wars and curb the gargantuan expenditures on the military. The looting of a beleaguered populace by the rich. The destruction of the ecosystem. The decay... Read more |
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Views Monday, August 26, 2019 The Curse of Moral Purity The continued inability of America’s liberal democratic establishment to address the ills besetting the country—climate change, unregulated global capitalism, mounting social inequality, a bloated military, endless foreign wars, out-of-control deficits and gun violence—means the inevitable snuffing... Read more |
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Views Monday, July 08, 2019 War, Memory and Gettysburg Over 50,000 soldiers were killed, wounded or reported missing in Gettysburg in July 1863, many of them dying in terrible agony on the battlefield or carted off to improvised hospitals where arms and legs were swiftly amputated and tossed into large heaps on the floor. Abysmal hygiene—surgeons would... Read more |
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Views Monday, June 24, 2019 Burning Down the Future The hulk of Grenfell Tower, its charred sides covered by sheets of white plastic, stands as a mute and ominous testament to the disposability of the poor and the primacy of corporate profit. On June 14, 2017, a fire leaped up the sides of the 24-story building, clad in highly flammable siding,... Read more |
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Views Monday, June 17, 2019 The Coming Show Trial of Julian Assange On Friday morning I was in a small courtroom at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London. Julian Assange, held in Belmarsh Prison and dressed in a pale-blue prison shirt, appeared on a video screen directly in front of me. Assange, his gray hair and beard neatly trimmed, slipped on heavy, dark-... Read more |
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Views Monday, June 10, 2019 The Cult of Trump Editor’s note: The 45th president’s approval ratings remain steady despite numerous scandals and missteps. Below is a Oct. 29, 2018, column in which Hedges analyzes Donald Trump’s seemingly indefatigable appeal. Hedges is speaking in London on Monday and will return with a new column on Julian... Read more |
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Views Monday, June 03, 2019 Manufacturing War With Russia Despite the Robert Mueller report’s conclusion that Donald Trump and his campaign did not collude with Russia during the 2016 presidential race, the new Cold War with Moscow shows little sign of abating. It is used to justify the expansion of NATO to Russia’s borders, a move that has made billions... Read more |
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Views Tuesday, May 28, 2019 The Mass Media Is Poisoning Us With Hate In “ Manufacturing Consent : The Political Economy of the Mass Media,” published in 1988, Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky exposed the techniques that the commercial media used to promote and defend the economic, social and political agendas of the ruling elites. These techniques included... Read more |